Gardener
City of Seattle
OlderPosted Dec 30
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Posted: January 12, 2026 (3 days ago)
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Gardener
City of Seattle
Seattle Center
Location
Seattle, Washington, 98104
Salary
$34.32 - $37.06
per hour
Type
Full Time
More Maintenance & Trades jobs →Closes
January 28, 2026
Job Description
Summary
This job involves maintaining and caring for plants, trees, and landscapes in Seattle's bustling Waterfront Park, a popular public space for locals and tourists.
You'll work as part of a small team, handling tasks like planting, pruning, and irrigation repairs while dealing with high foot traffic during busy seasons.
It's ideal for someone with hands-on gardening experience who enjoys outdoor work, teamwork, and interacting with diverse visitors.
Key Requirements
- At least two years of experience in landscape construction, maintenance, or plant propagation in settings like nurseries or greenhouses
- Skilled in planting, cultivating, pruning, and caring for flowers, shrubs, trees, lawns, and landscaped areas
- Knowledge of plant cultural needs and appropriate landscape maintenance for specific sites
- Understanding of irrigation systems, including monitoring and repair
- Ability to operate equipment such as small tractors, backpack blowers, hedge trimmers, and chainsaws
- Experience with Integrated Pest Management and pesticide applications
- Washington Public Pesticide Operator's License (required after appointment) and current Washington State Driver's License
- Strong customer service, communication, and teamwork skills for working with diverse teams and public
Full Job Description
About Seattle Center:
Seattle Center is the region's premier civic, arts and family gathering place in the core of our city and region, home to more than 30 arts, cultural, and entertainment organizations, family attractions, and tourist amenities.
Our mission is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments that delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities.
To support this work, Seattle Center employs 220 full-time employees and hundreds of intermittent workers.
As a department of the City of Seattle, Seattle Center contributes to the quality of life for Seattle residents--and the region's economy and image as its top visitor destination.
In 2023, Seattle Center expanded its role to provide operations, maintenance and public safety services for Seattle’s new Waterfront Park, a series of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront between Pioneer Square and Pier 62.
Seattle Center has brought its deep experience successfully managing public space to the Waterfront in partnership with the non-profit Friends of Waterfront Seattle, which already offers a range of recreational and cultural programming to the community.
Our goal has been to grow Seattle Center’s team by 20% over the last two years to meet this new opportunity, and to build a unified team to support both Seattle Center and the new Waterfront Park.
About this position:
We are seeking qualified candidates for full-time Gardener to join our small team of professional gardeners that care for Seattle’s Waterfront Park.
Seattle’s Waterfront Park is 20-acres of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront stretching north-south from Pier 62 to Pioneer Square.
This is a park for Seattle locals and visitors alike, with lively gathering spaces and year-round educational and recreational park programs celebrating the diverse cultures that define the Pacific Northwest.
This new green waterfront will also add hundreds of new trees and native plants to support the near-shore ocean habitat.
This position works with a team of gardeners near the public, performing detail-oriented gardening that is impacted by a very busy summer tourist season across the central waterfront.
These positions are currently budgeted through July 2028.
Requirements
What you will be doing:
- Perform skilled gardening and landscaping work in planting, cultivation, pruning and care of flowers, shrubs, trees, lawn and landscaped areas.
- Understand cultural needs of specific plants and implement the appropriate landscape maintenance needed for a given site.
- Understand irrigation system components and functions. Be an essential part of the monitoring and repair of the system.
- Work independently as well as a team member.
- Strong customer service, communication and teamwork skills while working with a diverse workforce and a multicultural public clientele.
- Operate equipment such as a small tractor, backpack blower, hedge trimmers and chainsaw.
- Utilize Integrated Pest Management, including pesticide applications for weed, insect and disease control.
- Review and follow traffic control plans for landscaping along street edges and medians.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Minimum of two years’ work experience in landscape construction or maintenance, or in the propagation and maintenance of flowers, plants, shrubs, and trees at a conservatory, greenhouse, or nursery (Combinations of education, training and experience will be evaluated on an individual basis for comparability).
Certification/License:
- Washington Public Pesticide operator's license is required after appointment.
- Current Washington State driver's license.
The most successful candidates will have:
- Two years’ experience as a journey-level landscaper or gardener.
- Knowledge of irrigation systems.
- Experience working with and knowledge of Pacific Northwest plants and landscapes.
- Strong interest in horticulture.
- Strong drive to create beautiful public spaces and experiences.
- The ability to organize work and solve problems.
Work Environment/Physical Demands:
- Ability to lift up to 50 pounds on a regular basis.
- Willing and able to work outside in all kinds of weather.
- Ability to stand, walk or bend for extended periods of time.
- Ability to work effectively and safely near the public.
- The ability to work within a diverse workforce.
- The shift is currently Monday-Friday 7:00 a.m -3:30 p.m.
Additional Information
The full pay range for this step-progression position is $34.32 – $37.06 per hour. New employees begin at Step 1 of the pay progression, which is $31.85 hourly. Current City employees’ starting rate of pay will be based on Personnel Rules regarding promotions.
This position is currently budgeted through July 2028.
How to Apply:
Applications are reviewed after the posting closes. You must submit the following items to be considered for this position no later than 4:00 pm Pacific Time on January 27, 2026.
- Completed NEOGOV online application.
- Supplemental questionnaire responses.
Your application may be rejected as incomplete if you do not include the relevant information in the application. Cover letters and/or resumes are not accepted in lieu of a completed application.
Applications and/or Supplemental Questionnaires that state "see my resume" or "see my personnel file" are considered incomplete and will not be accepted.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To align with our commitment to equity and the City of Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative, Seattle Center is collecting cover letters and resumes without personal identifiers to achieve a blind screening process.
Driving Record - If you are selected to advance in this hiring process, you may be asked to obtain a complete 5-Year (Full) driving record from the Department of Licensing.
Candidates with driving history that does not meet our current safety standards will be disqualified from consideration.
Current City of Seattle Employees in a driving position may be required to submit an updated abstract.
Pre-Employment Physical - Due to the tasks associated with this role, you will be required to successfully pass a preemployment physical.
Why work at the City?
The City of Seattle recognizes every City employee must play a role in ending institutional and structural racism.
Our culture is the result of our behavior, our personal commitments, and the ways that we courageously share our perspectives and encourage others to do the same.
To cultivate an antiracist culture, we seek employees who will engage in dismantling racist policies and procedures, unlearn the way things have always been done, and create and provide equitable processes and services.
Seattle Office of Civil Rights)
The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life, and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents.
More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website at: https://www.seattle.gov/human-resources/benefits/employees-and-covered-family-members/most-employees-plans
For helpful tips on the application process and recruitment process: Working at the City - Human Resources | seattle.gov
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